A fun joinery plane

First off, I’ll point out that I have nothing to compare this to. I have never used any other plow plane, and have little experience with any other kinds of joinery planes.

This is easy and fun to use. No tools are needed to do anything on this. Blade removal and all adjustments are toolless. The only thing I can think of to complain about is access to some of the knobs. I’d say I have average sized hands and fairly dexterous fingers. But I had trouble getting at the knobs well enough to loosen/tighten them at times. Nothing serious though.

There are six adjustment knobs on this plane. One knob tightens against the side of the blade to hold it tight against the plane body. The second knob is on the blade lever cap. Third knob is for blade depth adjustment. The other three knobs are on the right side of the plane. One is for the depth stop, and the last two are like router collets and control the fence.

I have been meaning to post a review on this for a while. I think I was one of the first people to buy this one when Veritas came out with it. I have been using it for more than six months now and I love it. The adjustments are so easy and it is amazing how much I turn to it for rabbets and dados. I haven’t had any problems with the knobs, but I have pianist long fingers so that might be it. I found it to be great for doing half laps at the end of boards. If you score your lines when doing cross cuts it works like a charm with no chip out either. It’s very light weight, and just a blast to use.

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This is a nice looking plane. Veritas does make nice planes. I have an old Record no. 44 that does the same job, and I have about 6 different size cutters. What is the length of this plane? Judging from the size of you bench vise, it is only a little longer than the no.44.

I think I will hold on to my Stanley #46 plane for now, but thislooks like a nice plane – though pricey compared to the not-scarce Stanley #45 plane.

Plow planes are imperfect. If you are accustomed to cuttinggrooves with a router you may like plow planes. If you usuallydo it with a table saw you’ll find planes slow and fussy.

In my experience brittle hardwoods like cherry, maple, oakand ash don’t take hand-plowing with a lot of grace. Confineyou plow-plane work to softer woods and you’ll marvel at thesmoothness of cut. Planing difficult woods will have you grumbling.

That’s my experience – and the #46 cuts smoother than mostdue to the skewed blade.

I’ll pass on the Veritas. Lee Valley makes some good stuff. I guessyou have to look honestly at how much you prefer hand-work ifyou are going to do it this way.

BTW – it’s quickest probably to cut a groove or two with a tablesaw (bumping the fence over to get more width) and then trim off the waste with an inverted chisel or a crank-neck chisel.